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Introducing Ethan Chua

 

The calm that yoga brought also helped me deal with major life changes.

Tell us about your Yoga journey, where does your passion for yoga stem from? What was your first yoga session, what made you decide to go?

 

I discovered yoga during the pandemic, during what seemed to be an interminable quarantine. I liked the combination of movement, mobility, and mindfulness, as well as how much character instructors were able to infuse into their classes. The calm that yoga brought also helped me deal with major life changes, such as leaving my job of 17 years and relocating from Singapore to the US.

 

I decided to undertake Yoga Teacher Training at the start of this year to acquire skills that would enable me to better help my personal training clients. As a Corrective Exercise Specialist, I felt that my clients dealing with postural and mobility issues would benefit from incorporating yoga into their fitness routine. Initially, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to teach yoga, but training under the inimitable Patti Sterns at Front Range Community College and taking the various classes at Be Free sure changed my mind! I was especially inspired by Madison’s Yinyasa class (my first ever in person class!) which opened my eyes to the possibility of fusing different yoga styles. This eventually led me to come up with the idea for “The Tao of Hatha”.

 

My passion for yoga is very much rooted in asana practice. I love how good vinyasa yoga feels in the body, especially when I’m able to get into a flow state of sorts (the reason why I love Animal Flow). Increasingly, though, I’m finding as much meaning in the meditative parts of yoga. There’s something very rewarding and profound about taking a class that manages to strike that fine balance between the movement and non-movement parts of yoga. It is something I’m hoping to discover and share in the classes I teach.

 

  • Share a funny teaching moment - humor connects us all!!! :)

 

I’m still new to teaching yoga, but I recently had a class where half of the students turned in one direction and the other half turned in the opposite direction. I tried to reconstruct the moment in my mind (both at the time and for days afterward) but I still don’t know if I had given a wrong cue, if the students had misunderstood my cue, or if something else happened. Regardless, everyone decided to collectively shrug, go with the flow, and continue in the “wrong” direction. This resulted in lots of unintended eye contact and giggles. Everyone left the class in a good mood, chatting and laughing with new friends. It is easily the favorite class I’ve taught so far.

 

  • What would you advise yoga beginners?

 

Exercise, movement, breathwork, meditation, healing… Yoga can be anything and everything you want it to be. 

 

  • How can people find you?

 

The new “The Tao of Hatha” class every Tuesday at 9am!

 

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